Cobo Stable Weekly No.13 |Card Organization Moats Are Cracking — Why Mastercard and Fiserv Are Betting on Stablecoins
Stablecoins gain ground globally, with Mastercard and Fiserv adapting to meet a reshaped financial future.
Global payments are undergoing a revolution, and stablecoins are at the heart of this transformation. They're not just reshaping how money moves across borders—they're completely redefining what payments can be. Cobo stands at the cutting edge of this shift, building the full-stack infrastructure that powers next-gen stablecoin solutions: from secure wallet tech to risk control and compliance and yield-generating options that actually make your money work.
Go with Cobo, and you can zero in on building cool stuff and growing your user base, while surfing the stablecoin revolution without the infrastructure headaches.
Welcome to Cobo Stable Weekly #13
This week we examine the divergent evolution of stablecoins across global north and south markets: which regions are truly unlocking stablecoins' potential as "infrastructure," and what new challenges are testing their institutional adaptability and regulatory resilience?
In financially mature markets like the US, stablecoins struggle to deliver meaningful efficiency gains. But in underbanked regions like Nigeria, Argentina, and the Philippines, stablecoins have become practical solutions for cross-border payments and asset preservation. Tether achieved breakthrough in these "market failure" scenarios, generating over $13 billion profit in 2024.
Now Tether has actively abandoned replicating its southern strategy in the US, pivoting toward building AI wallets, IoT interfaces, and programmable payment SDKs to explore next-generation "digital operating systems."
If Tether's strategy reflects stablecoins' "localized adaptation" to different financial environments, then moves by Mastercard and Fiserv signal traditional institutions strategically absorbing stablecoin capabilities, responding to the structural trend of stablecoin transaction volumes surpassing $27.6 trillion - exceeding Visa and Mastercard combined.
Meanwhile, regulatory risks intensify. SlowMist's report exposed "HuionePay's" suspected involvement in over $50 billion USDT illicit fund flows on TRON networks, revealing systemic risks. Russia accelerates building domestic-anchored coins and independent exchange networks for cross-border payments, attempting to bypass SWIFT and the dollar system.
Stablecoins are becoming the convergence point of industrial opportunity, geopolitical competition, and regulatory transformation.
Market Overview and Growth Highlights
Stablecoin Total Market Cap Reaches $252.937B
The total stablecoin market capitalization has reached $252.937 billion, reflecting a week-over-week growth of $1.165b. In terms of market share, USDT continues to dominate with a 62.57% share, followed by USDC, which holds the second position with a market cap of $61.37 billion (24.26% share).
Blockchain Network Distribution
Top 3 Networks by Stablecoin Market Cap:
Ethereum: $125.685B
Tron: $80.794B
BSC: $10.474B
Top 3 Fastest-Growing Networks (Weekly):
Movement:+25.43%(USDC dominance: 64.15%)
Algorand:+17.44%(USDC dominance: 96.55%)
Sei:16.34%(USDC dominance:83.30%)
Data Source: DefiLlama
🎯 Settlement is Power: How Mastercard is Redefining Card Network Moats with Stablecoins
With the GENIUS Act clarifying stablecoin regulations, traditional financial institutions are scrambling to adjust their digital asset strategies. Last week we covered how Tether, Circle, and banks might fare under new rules. This week we're looking at how card giant Mastercard is using stablecoins to transform from a traditional "network orchestrator" into a core coordinator of on-chain value flows.
In 2024 Stablecoin transaction volumes just surpassed Visa and Mastercard combined for the first time, fundamentally shaking traditional card network moats. Mastercard clearly realizes that relying solely on clearing rules and transaction fees won't maintain their monopoly position long-term. Their latest strategic moves are shifting from "mid-consumption support" to the starting point of users' on-chain journeys through partnerships with Chainlink, Shift4, Zerohash, and Uniswap, integrating bank card payments with on-chain delivery to bypass centralized exchange complexities and directly connect fiat-to-crypto conversion loops.
Previous Mastercard initiatives like Kraken crypto debit cards and MoonPay merchant stablecoin acceptance targeted the "middle" of crypto payment flows, focusing on existing asset circulation and consumption. This new collaboration means Mastercard is participating in the initial conversion from fiat to crypto assets - building on-chain asset entry points. It's a more aggressive step aimed at capturing users at their journey's starting point.
Mastercard's bigger ambition is penetrating the "final settlement layer" of money flows. In traditional fiat systems, final fund transfers are dominated by commercial and central banks, with Mastercard only controlling instructions and clearing logic. In stablecoin-driven payment networks, it's trying to take over more underlying processes through Mastercard Move platform for enterprise stablecoin minting and redemption services, plus partnerships with Paxos (USDG), Fiserv (FIUSD), and PayPal (PYUSD) to build on-chain wholesale settlement networks and capture coordination rights in institutional stablecoin flows.
Mastercard's core thesis is simple: whoever gets closest to settlement controls value direction and distribution methods. In the on-chain era, this becomes a battle for payment governance rights and technical standard-setting authority. From information flow instruction layers to value flow settlement layers, Mastercard's stablecoin strategy represents a complete reconstruction of their platform power.
🎯Tether Pivots to Emerging Markets and Programmable Finance
As the GENIUS Act sets an "orderly delisting" timeline for USDT in the US, Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino confirmed the company's strategic pivot in this week's Bankless podcast. He argues that in markets with 90% financial efficiency like the US, stablecoins offer limited marginal improvements, leading to unsustainable price wars and commoditization.
In contrast, emerging markets with only 20% financial efficiency (like Nigeria) present massive opportunities. Boosting efficiency from 20% to 50% creates a 30% structural gain that can support stablecoin premiums. In extreme scenarios with local currency volatility, users will even let Tether keep interest earnings rather than seek alternatives.
Tether has abandoned trying to replicate its "Global South" model in the US, instead pursuing yield-sharing and programmability. The new strategy includes AI agent wallets, IoT device integration, cross-chain wallet SDKs, and rebuilding distribution networks through channels like Rumble.
This dual approach reflects how stablecoin business models diverge across different financial landscapes. In highly efficient markets like the US, adoption may require moving beyond traditional "cost and speed" narratives toward yield sharing, programmability, and deep integration with new economic scenarios.
Meanwhile, Tether's continued expansion in Global South markets validates that "solving market failures" remains the eternal path to product-market fit for stablecoins. This battle for the future of money is just beginning.
🎯$50B USDT Laundering Ring Exposed on TRON
A crypto payment platform called "HuionePay" processed over $50 billion USDT on TRON in 18 months while exhibiting classic money laundering patterns, according to blockchain security firm SlowMist's latest analysis.
The platform showed a massive $2.77 billion net outflow with withdrawal transactions spiking to 150,000 per day in May 2025 - far exceeding deposits. This "high-frequency withdrawal" behavior aligns with typical fraud money laundering and capital flight schemes.
Despite questionable legitimacy, the platform attracted over 80,000 active deposit addresses. Several core withdrawal addresses handled billions in USDT and showed direct interactions with OFAC-sanctioned addresses and known attackers like the BingX hacker, revealing clear connections to underground fraud networks.
Multiple key addresses appear controlled by "HaoWang Guarantee" (formerly "HuiWang Guarantee"), exposing broader Southeast Asian scam networks. Transaction timing concentrated between UTC 03:00-13:00 matches regional operating hours, confirming geographical patterns.
The coordinated takedown involved Tether asset freezes, FinCEN intervention, Telegram channel bans, and a joint UNODC-Elliptic report. These actions ultimately forced HuionePay to cease operations, marking a successful "multilateral containment" case in the stablecoin space.
The incident highlights systemic risks around USDT on TRON networks and demonstrates the strategic value of on-chain tracking tools like MistTrack for identifying illicit fund flows and supporting law enforcement coordination.
New Launches
👀Circle just brought USDC and CCTP V2 to Codex, an EVM blockchain built specifically for B2B stablecoin transactions that prioritizes compliance and enterprise performance over DeFi features. The integration gives businesses direct access to Circle Mint APIs on Codex, enabling instant cross-chain transfers without liquidity pools or bridge risks that plague other networks. Codex is targeting the unsexy but massive enterprise payment corridors where compliance matters more than yield farming, positioning itself as the "boring but reliable" blockchain for corporate treasury operations. This expansion shows Circle doubling down on institutional infrastructure rather than just supporting whatever network has the most TVL.
👀Dynamic just dropped "Stablecoin Accounts" and a "Stablecoin Hub" to turn months-long stablecoin integrations into days-long deployments for fintech teams. The Accounts product handles the messy infrastructure bits—wallet setup, on/off-ramps, payment processing—while the Hub becomes the go-to learning resource for teams navigating the fragmented stablecoin ecosystem.
👀Former Stripe exec Joe Kinvi launched Borderless to unlock the $30 billion in diaspora savings that sits idle annually, letting African diaspora communities collectively invest in home-country startups and real estate. The platform has already moved $500,000 since beta with over 100 communities waitlisted, solving cross-border investment pain points like frozen accounts and regulatory hurdles through UK-compliant infrastructure. With $1,000 startup minimums and $5,000 real estate thresholds, Borderless routes funds directly to verified sellers and escrow accounts, building trust where traditional systems fail. This isn't just another remittance play—it's turning diaspora wealth into productive capital flows that could reshape African startup and real estate ecosystems.
👀SoFi is charging back into crypto with 24/7 stablecoin remittances and restored trading features after pausing everything in 2023 to secure banking licenses. The timing isn't coincidental—new OCC guidance letting chartered banks offer crypto custody and stablecoin services just cleared the regulatory runway SoFi needed. Beyond consumer features, they're positioning Galileo as blockchain infrastructure-as-a-service for other fintech companies, turning crypto from a product line into a core platform strategy. This comeback story shows how regulatory clarity is unleashing pent-up demand from traditional fintech players who've been waiting on the sidelines.
👀Taurus launched the industry's first privacy-enabled stablecoin contract on a16z-backed Aztec Network, addressing institutional privacy concerns that have limited corporate stablecoin adoption. The contract features USDC-like controls (minting/burning, emergency pauses) but adds zero-knowledge proof privacy for confidential transactions like hiding payroll details in cross-border payments while maintaining regulatory access. This breakthrough could accelerate institutional adoption as the GENIUS Act moves forward, finally offering the privacy-compliance balance that corporate treasury and payment operations demand. It's a significant step toward mainstream enterprise stablecoin integration.
👀Kraken launched "Krak," a financial services app targeting the remittance and payments market to diversify revenue ahead of its potential IPO. The app enables global crypto and fiat transfers across 300+ assets with minimal fees, though initially operates as a partially closed system where users can only send to other Krak users or withdraw to personal banks. Physical and virtual debit cards launch in coming weeks, followed by credit services including loans and credit card programs. This positions Kraken to compete directly with fintech giants like Revolut and Cash App beyond traditional exchange services.
Regulation & Compliance
🏛️ Eight major South Korean banks including KB Kookmin and Shinhan are forming a joint venture for a KRW-pegged stablecoin with potential launch by year-end, exploring both trust-based and deposit token models for backing. The collaboration involves the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute, signaling this isn't just a fintech experiment but core banking infrastructure development. This represents the most significant bank-led stablecoin initiative globally, moving beyond individual institution pilots to industry-wide coordination on digital currency infrastructure. The timing aligns with the Bank of Korea's "banks first" strategy we saw earlier, showing how regulatory preferences are shaping market structure with traditional institutions leading rather than following crypto innovation.
🏛️ Hong Kong is going full throttle on digital asset regulation with ten virtual asset trading platform licenses already issued and eight more under review, while the Stablecoin Ordinance launches August 1 as one of the world's first statutory stablecoin frameworks. HKMA's Eddie Yue signals bank-level regulatory requirements for stablecoin issuers with only a handful of initial licenses focused on cross-border trade use cases rather than broad consumer adoption. This dual push on exchange licensing and stablecoin regulation shows Hong Kong racing to establish first-mover advantage in regulated digital asset infrastructure while other major jurisdictions are still drafting their approaches.
🏛️ Hong Kong just dropped Digital Asset Policy Statement 2.0 with the "LEAP" framework, putting the SFC in charge of digital asset regulation while rolling out stablecoin rules on August 1 and exempting tokenized ETFs from stamp duty. The city is doubling down on real-world asset tokenization beyond its existing HK$6.8 billion in tokenized green bonds, targeting precious metals and renewable energy while exploring stablecoins for government payments. The HKMA's Ensemble project will test interbank tokenized deposit settlements, creating a comprehensive digital asset infrastructure that prioritizes utility over speculation. This isn't just regulatory clarity—it's Hong Kong positioning itself as the bridge between traditional finance and tokenized assets in Asia.
🏛️ Russian ruble stablecoin A7A5 just hit $9.3 billion in transactions after four months, backed by a sanctioned Moscow defense bank and controlled by fugitive businessman Ilan Șor. This isn't your typical DeFi experiment—it's Russia building sanctions-resistant payment rails with $156 million tokens in circulation. The volume suggests institutional use rather than retail trading, basically creating the alternative financial system that Western regulators keep having nightmares about. Wild how stablecoins went from "stable digital dollars" to geopolitical weapons so quickly.
Market Adoption
🌱 Mastercard is going all-in on stablecoins, integrating PayPal's PYUSD, Paxos's USDG, and Fiserv's FIUSD alongside existing USDC support across its global network. The move enables seamless on/off-ramps, merchant settlements, and cross-border payments through Mastercard Move, letting users manage both fiat and stablecoins via One Credential tech. This isn't just another partnership announcement—it's a payment giant positioning itself as critical infrastructure in the stablecoin economy. The institutional adoption wave is accelerating fast, and Mastercard is making sure it owns the rails.
🌱 Mastercard just flipped the crypto onboarding game by partnering with Chainlink to let 3 billion cardholders buy crypto directly on-chain, no exchanges needed. The setup is slick: Shift4 handles card payments, Zero Hash manages fiat custody and liquidity, while XSwap and Uniswap execute the actual token swaps, all orchestrated through Chainlink's interoperability layer. This kills the biggest friction points—no more exchange signups, KYC delays, or moving funds between platforms. Mastercard is basically turning every card swipe into a potential DeFi onramp, which could unleash the largest retail crypto adoption wave we've seen.
🌱 Fiserv is dropping FIUSD, a Solana-based stablecoin launching late 2025 that instantly plugs 3,000 regional banks and 6 million merchants into the crypto economy at zero extra cost. The move flips Fiserv's business model from high transaction fees to reserve asset earnings and fee sharing, betting on volume over margins as stablecoins already outpaced Visa and Mastercard combined in 2024. With deep integrations across Mastercard, Circle, Paxos, and PayPal, FIUSD gives smaller banks the same digital asset infrastructure that only crypto-native players had before. Traditional finance isn't just watching anymore—they're building the rails.
🌱 PwC just dropped Hong Kong's official Web3 playbook, complete with five action groups targeting stablecoins, fund management, VATPs, legal frameworks, and custody services launching this August. The "Big Four" firm is essentially becoming Hong Kong's Web3 infrastructure architect, focusing on talent pipelines, market standards, and regulatory clarity rather than just auditing from the sidelines. This isn't consulting theater—it's a major professional services firm actively building the institutional scaffolding for crypto adoption in one of Asia's key financial hubs. When Big Four firms start forming dedicated Web3 action groups, the industry maturation is real.
🌱 Kakao Pay just filed 18 trademarks for "KRWKP" covering everything from stablecoin naming to crypto wallets, basically laying groundwork for a Korean Won stablecoin whether they admit it or not. The company's calling it "precautionary measures," but you don't file trademark applications across payment settlements and crypto services unless you're serious about playing in that space. South Korea's biggest payment platform potentially launching a KRW stablecoin would be massive for local crypto adoption and cross-border payments in Asia. Even if they're hedging with PR speak, the trademark filings show Korean fintech giants are preparing for stablecoin inevitability.
🌱 Cenoa is using Bridge's infrastructure to give entrepreneurs in Turkey and Nigeria instant USD accounts that auto-convert to USDC, cutting cross-border payment costs by 80% compared to traditional banking. The platform hit 10,000 Turkish users and $5 million monthly volume in just six months by eliminating the 8% forex markups and week-long delays that plague emerging market businesses. This isn't just fintech optimization—it's economic inclusion at scale, letting entrepreneurs in restricted banking environments compete globally without getting crushed by payment rails designed for Western markets. Stablecoins are becoming the great equalizer for global commerce, and platforms like Cenoa are proving the infrastructure is ready.
🌱 Ethereum stablecoin users just hit 750,000 weekly active users for the first time, signaling the shift from crypto speculation to actual utility-driven adoption. USDT dominates with $73 billion supply while USDC holds $41 billion of Ethereum's total $134 billion stablecoin market, driving real competition that's lowering fees and improving yield opportunities. This isn't just number-go-up metrics—it's evidence that stablecoins are becoming infrastructure for digital commerce rather than just trading tools. The user growth timing aligns perfectly with traditional finance integrations, suggesting we're hitting the inflection point where stablecoins become boring but essential financial plumbing.
🌱 Bitkit just dropped a game-changer letting you pay Netflix, Airbnb, and grocery bills directly with Bitcoin, no banks required. This isn't just another "Bitcoin payments" feature—it's actually making the "live on Bitcoin" dream practical for normies who want to skip the whole sell-crypto-transfer-to-bank dance. Finally, a wallet that gets that Bitcoin adoption needs to be about convenience.
🌱 Rain teamed up with compliance provider Toku to build a cross-border stablecoin payroll system that lets companies pay employees in real-time using USDC, RLUSD, and USDG. The platform plugs into existing payroll systems like ADP and Workday with one-week deployment while handling compliance across 100+ countries. It's another sign that stablecoins are moving from crypto trading novelty to actual corporate infrastructure, especially with the GENIUS Act providing regulatory clarity for these use cases.
Big Picture
🔮Ondo CEO Nathan Allman sees stablecoins as just the opening act for massive RWA tokenization, with his platform launching next month to put US stocks, bonds, and ETFs on-chain following BlackRock and Franklin Templeton's treasury tokenization moves. He's betting that "the vast majority of regulated financial assets will settle on blockchain rails" but acknowledges that publicly traded securities are the easy targets while private markets need serious infrastructure overhauls first. The key insight is that tokenization doesn't magically create liquidity—it just makes existing liquid assets more efficient, which is why BlackRock and Apollo are working on private market liquidity before tokenization can really scale there. This suggests a methodical rollout from liquid public markets to illiquid private assets rather than everything tokenizing at once.
🔮The real-time economy is emerging as stablecoins grow 55% annually and could hit 10% of US M1 within a decade, fundamentally reshaping how businesses manage cash flow from bi-weekly cycles to near real-time operations. With transaction costs below $0.01 on Layer 2 networks, companies can slash the $2 trillion in cash holdings and $2.8 trillion in working capital loans by moving to flowing financial models where employees get paid daily and utilities bill in real-time. This isn't just faster payments—it's a complete reconstruction of business operations that eliminates payday lenders, reduces global cash buffers, and enables instant incentive mechanisms that could reshape human behavior. We're witnessing the payment equivalent of music's evolution from CDs to streaming, where the infrastructure becomes so cheap and fast that entirely new business models become possible.
🔮Bloomberg Intelligence is floating the idea that Hong Kong stablecoins could evolve beyond simple HKD pegs to back against real estate and other real-world assets, creating a new model for asset-backed digital currencies. While HKD stablecoins would still dance to the USD peg's tune, linking to property assets could unlock liquidity for Hong Kong's massive real estate market while creating more sophisticated financial products. This isn't just innovation for innovation's sake—it's Hong Kong positioning itself as the bridge between traditional asset management and digital finance in Asia. If they pull it off, property-backed stablecoins could become a template for other asset-rich jurisdictions looking to tokenize their way into crypto relevance.
🔮Paxos is seeing massive infrastructure demand as banks realize stablecoin rails are "extremely low cost and nearly free" compared to traditional payment systems, with Mastercard joining their Global Dollar Network as validation. The $150 billion stablecoin issuer is positioning tokenized deposits as the bridge between traditional banking and crypto rails, especially after the Senate's GENIUS Act passage gave banks more regulatory clarity. Paxos is differentiating from Circle by offering "shared ownership and shared economics" rather than Circle's closed-loop approach, betting that banks want infrastructure partnerships over vendor relationships. This infrastructure gold rush shows traditional finance moving beyond pilot programs into production-ready stablecoin integration.
🔮Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino is betting on one trillion AI agents settling transactions with Bitcoin and USDT within 15 years, arguing that traditional banks won't open accounts for AI agents but blockchain rails will welcome them. Tether is already building the infrastructure with its Wallet Development Kit, Tether Data, and AI platform, positioning USDT's $155 billion market cap as the foundation for machine-to-machine commerce. This isn't just crypto fantasy—it's a practical prediction about how AI agents will need payment rails that work 24/7 without human intervention or bank compliance checks. If Ardoino's right, the AI economy could become crypto's killer app, finally delivering the peer-to-peer electronic cash vision for non-human participants.
🔮The BIS just dropped a scathing report declaring stablecoins fundamentally broken across unity, resilience, and integrity metrics, calling them unfit for future monetary systems despite their programmability and cost advantages. The central bank consortium warns about "stealth dollarization" undermining national monetary sovereignty and enabling illicit activities, sending Circle's stock down 15% immediately after publication. This isn't just academic criticism—it's the global central banking establishment drawing battle lines against private stablecoins while hinting that tokenized traditional assets might be acceptable. The BIS is basically saying "we'll take the tech, but not your tokens," which sets up a massive regulatory clash as stablecoins gain institutional adoption.